PhD Defence Debbie Oyeku | Drift, actor-networks, and structuration as drivers of planning support systems institutionalization - The spatial development framework methodology in Rwanda's spatial planning processes

DRIFT, ACTOR-NETWORKS, AND STRUCTURATION AS DRIVERS OF PLANNING SUPPORT SYSTEMS INSTITUTIONALIZATION - THE SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK METHODOLOGY IN RWANDA'S SPATIAL PLANNING PROCESSES

Debbie Oyeku is a PhD student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management. (Co)promotors are prof.dr. K. Pfeffer, dr.ir. L.G.J. Boerboom and dr. A.M. Pinto Soares Madureira from the faculty ITC.

Despite decades of planning support systems (PSS) use in spatial planning practices, their actual integration into everyday planning processes worldwide remains a distant ambition. PSS research is yet to ascertain where, when, how and why the institutionalisation of PSS happens in practice. Although studies established that widespread PSS implementation and continuous use are ambitions continuously hindered by users' capabilities, advancements in information technology and organizational barriers in practice.

This research assumes that these barriers persist due to a two-decade knowledge gap about the active associations among technology, individuals, and organizations during PSS implementation and continuous use in practice. Building on the research assumption, this dissertation produces knowledge on how interactions between PSS technology, individuals, and organizational structures shape the institutionalization of PSS use in spatial planning processes.

The scope of this research is limited to the institutionalization of PSS use within the context of spatial planning and urbanization processes. It answers three research questions. One: How can drift influence PSS implementation and use? Answer: PSS users' understanding of the existing planning process produces drift, which, if ignored, can hinder continuous PSS implementation and use in planning practice. Two: How, to what extent and why PSS institutionalization happens in the planning process? Answer: PSS institutionalization happens when PSS usage transitions from use for specific planning activities (non‑institutionalized) to routine use in some parts of the planning process (partial institutionalization) to embeddedness in planning policies, regulations, and guidelines, as mandatory routines in the entire planning process (full institutionalization). Heterogeneous actors sustain PSS institutionalization by building networks through decisions, training, funding, technical, and policy support until PSS use is taken for granted and structurally embedded in practice. Third: How do institutions and organizations shape PSS institutionalization in the planning process? Answer: Institutions and organizations shape PSS institutionalization by providing the rules, routines, and resources that either enable PSS use to become standard practice or limit its use in the planning process.

This thesis emphasized that knowledge about how PSS institutionalization emerges in practice is possible when adopted research approaches are applied to investigate ongoing PSS implementation or continuous use cases.